Thursday, 3 April 2014

Sacrilege!

Do you write in your books? Highlight? Make notes? Or do you like to keep your copies as pristine as possible?

I don't write in my books. Ever. Not even in pencil!

A book is like a living thing to me, in a way. You take care of it, and if it acquires a little natural wear through the process of careful use and age, that's ok. It's not ok, however, to scrawl all over it. Even with study books I'd much prefer to write on photocopies or to use post-its on relevant pages. I kind of like seeing notes other people have already made on books, especially if they're very old notes - it's interesting to see the impressions it's made on other people. I'd never dream of deliberately defacing one myself, though. It just seems so... wrong.